Find Me
by Haikoui
Summary: Oneshot. She's back in Paris, but she can't get him out of her head. He's always there… but not really. She decides to follow his advice and find him. D/A.


**Title: ** Find Me

**Author: **Haikoui

**Disclaimer: **Oh come on, do I seem like someone who has enough brains to make something so epic? Christopher Nolan does, that's why he made Inception!

**Summary:** Oneshot. She's back in Paris, but she can't get him out of her head. He's always there… but not really. She decides to follow his advice and find him. D/A.

* * *

"So, you decided to come back," he says, reclining on the sofa and flipping through channels on the television. She shakes her head, dazed, and drops her purse onto the dining table.

He glances at her and gives her a soft smile. "Don't you ever get tired of dealing with a figment of your imagination?"

"I don't have one anymore, remember?" she shoots back, collapsing on the edge of the sofa where his feet lay.

"Don't say that, you're the smartest person I've encountered in a while. Save for… maybe Arthur… I don't think anyone's smarter than him," he laughs, returning his attention to the television.

She's silent as he observes the channels on the television. There isn't much to talk about tonight. The apartment is empty. Finally, after several glances in her direction, he shifts completely in her direction and sits up, setting the remote on his thigh and giving her a look. "Couldn't sleep again, could you?"

"I'm sorry," she says, shaking her head. "I'm just so bogged down with assignments."

"Bullshit," he retorts. "You can't stop thinking about him, can you?"

It's odd to hear that come out of his mouth. He folds his arms over his chest and continues, "You really need to find him."

"I can't. He's with his children."

"Ariadne, you selfless girl, be a little selfish for once," he says, frowning at her. "Go there. Visit him. Get a break for once in your life."

"He's – "

"You saw me let go of Mal back in Limbo," he states, his eyebrows rising. She's so abruptly caught off guard by his change of person that she doesn't respond, and he adds, "Don't you think I'm ready for a sort of change?"

"Not yet," she answers, avoiding his gaze.

They're silent again, the only noise coming from the television. It's a while until he moves closer and lifts her chin with his fingers. "Ariadne, I promise, I'm waiting."

She glances back at him. His eyes are glassy. "Find me. Again," he whispers. "Help me. I may not accept it at first, I may think it's wrong but Heaven knows it will be perfect when I get my act together."

"Months," she replies, looking pained. "I spent months thinking about you after we finished the job. Arthur calls me sometimes; he's the only one I can count on to keep me on the ground. I tell him all about you, I can't help it. He tells me the exact same things you do. But I can't do it, Cobb, I'm scared."

It is the first time she's ever openly admitted she's terrified of the prospect of seeing him again. But he surprises her. "Don't you think I'm scared too?" His finger traces her jaw delicately. "I won't be thrilled at the idea. But I assure you, Ariadne, that I'll get to my senses. I met you so you would help me against the Minotaur. And you did. I found my way back out of the maze and I'm back home to my children. But you're still stuck on the island. Come back to me. I'm grieving and I don't know why."

She's read on the story of Ariadne and Theseus, about how he had gone home and she was left stranded on the island, sleeping.

"Wake up, Ariadne," he whispers. "Don't just dream me anymore. Find me."

Ariadne wakes up.

* * *

She spends the final months at her university working through late hours. She falls asleep again and again, but he is always there, and he wakes her up every time, and she can never get her mind off of him. But every test and exam is one more step to getting back to him, she knows that. So when she graduates from the university with the highest marks in her class and immediately heads for Los Angeles, he's there beside her as she falls asleep on the plane.

"Finally." He gives her a soft kiss.

She frowns, looking out of the plane window. "Would you want me, if you were in his place? If you weren't following me around?"

"I'd be crazy not to" was his response.

"We're already crazy," she informs him.

"Well, then. Just delusional."

She's at his house seven hours later. Arthur's talks come in handy sometimes, she realizes, because she's remembered his address and the outer appearance of his house like the back of her hand. She knocks.

There's a child laughing, another one joining the laughter, and a deep voice saying that they'll open the door. The door opens and he stops short.

"Ariadne," he says, completely bewildered.

"Theseus," she counters.

"Dom." He corrects her with a frown. At least he doesn't say 'Cobb.'

"Ari," she retorts, sounding more confident than she feels.

He laughs, and she abruptly notices the change that his kids have placed on him. He's happier, younger, and able to enjoy the simple things in life. "Ari," he agrees, and ushers her in. His children, his beautiful children, are replicas of his simple joy, laughing and pulling her hand to show her around.

"You know, I have to admit," he says as she watches James and Phillipa play and goof around on the carpet in the living room. "I never would have guessed you'd come here."

She gives him a smile. "I do a lot of things spontaneously."

"Like shooting a gun in Limbo," he says. His smile doesn't flicker a bit. "What brought you here?"

She can't really think of anything to say. "I woke up. That's all." His eyebrows rise dangerously.

"Like the Ariadne in the Greek myth." He's amused.

"Yeah. Being stranded on an island."

"Well, you got off." His smile fades slightly. His expression is more complex and she can't tell what he's thinking. "Ariadne, we'll never be completely normal. People will judge."

"I know."

"And you're okay with that?"

"If you're ready to accept it, I am too." She's tired of spending her life with just a thought to keep her company at night, wasting away without any reason. She'll do architecture in L.A. and she won't give a damn what others think.

"I'd be crazy not to," he answers.

"We're already crazy."

"Well, then. Just delusional."

* * *

**Little idea :) I like the idea of a Projection!Cobb. For some weird reason.**

**Love you all! I was in the mood for a one-shot.**


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